Flex schedule playoff system

ABSTRACT

A protective fender is provided for use on a pontoon boat having at least an upper support member and a lower support member. The fender includes an elongated body formed from protective material. A first fastening structure is connected to the body, engageable with the lower support member and moveable between a plurality of positions along a length of the body. A second fastening structure is connected to the body, engageable with the upper support member and adjustable to vary the position of the second fastening structure relative to the body.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application relates to and claims priority from U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 60/642,433 filed Jan. 7, 2005.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to playoff systems for determining achampion from a large pool of sports teams. More specifically, theinvention is a scheduling method well suited for situations in which itis desirable that playoff teams play a limited number of post-seasongames, such as the situation currently facing NCAA Division 1A football.

BACKGROUND

It is widely known that NCAA Division 1A football does not determine itschampion through an elimination post-season playoff tournament. MostDivision 1A football teams play 11 regular season games, possibly aconference championship game and, if invited, a bowl game. Collegepresidents and chancellors have made it clear that the Division 1Acolleges are not interested in extending the season by implementing amulti-tiered playoff system. In recent years, the Bowl ChampionshipSeries® has selected one of four major bowls to host a nationalchampionship game on a rotating basis. The theory being that the BCSuses a ranking system in order to match the first and second rankedteams in the national championship game.

The BCS system is also used to select match ups for other three majorbowl games that are not hosting the national championship game for thatparticular year. The fairness of the ranking system has been the subjectof great debate, and in fact the BCS ranking system has been modifiedfrom year to year in order improve its fairness.

The BCS ranking system has the benefit of not extending the number ofgames that Division 1A teams would need to play if the NCAA were toadopt a post-season playoff tournament, like it does for Division IAAfootball as well as other sports. The BCS ranking system has alsogenerally preserved the importance of college bowl games, and thecollege bowl system in general.

On the other hand, the current BCS system appears to be somewhatarbitrary especially when two or more teams vying for the second placerank have the same win-lose record, or a lower ranked team actually hasa better record than a higher ranked team. It is especially difficultunder this system, if not practically impossible, for teams from someconferences to be selected to the national championship game, let alonea major bowl game, even if the team is undefeated. To improve access tomajor BCS bowls, it has been suggested to add a fifth major bowl to theBCS.

Several methods have been suggested to improve the BCS system. Forexample, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,823 and U.S. Patent Application Pub.No. 2004/0157684 A1. Many suggestions to date relate to ways ofimproving the fairness of the BCS ranking system, such as requiring thatvoting in all BCS polls be open to public inspection, or that BCS pollscannot begin until several games have been played. It has also beensuggested that the polls and rankings be merely advisory, and that aselection committee pick the teams. Other suggestions include theso-called plus-one format, in which the top four ranked teams (or fourselected teams) play semi-final playoff games that are played eitherbefore the major bowl games, or as two of the major bowl games with anational championship game to follow. The plus-one format has theobvious advantage of including four teams in a small playoff for thenational championship game, rather than two teams, thereby reducing therisk of ignoring a legitimate contender.

Nevertheless, none of the above suggestions provide a way to accommodatea larger number of legitimate contenders in a national championshipelimination tournament, without extending the season, and withoutdisrupting the college bowl system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a method of scheduling an elimination playofftournament in which games in at least one round of the playofftournament are played during the regular season in lieu of a regularseason game. In this way, an elimination tournament can be playedwithout extending the season more than is desirable. While the methodmay be adapted to any sports league, it seems to be well suited for NCAADivision 1A football inasmuch as it enables the current bowl system tobe preserved with vigor.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, each team in the pool hasa full regular season schedule at the beginning of the season. Forexample, 11 or 12 regular season games are scheduled for each teamparticipating in NCAA Division 1A football. The regular season games areplayed in accordance with the regular season schedule (or as close aspossible) for most of the regular season, much like as is nowconventional. Late in the regular season, playoff teams are selectedfrom the pool, preferably after most teams have played 9 or 10 gamesdepending on whether one or two rounds of the playoff games will beplayed in lieu of scheduled regular season games. The number of selectedplayoff teams is a matter of choice, ranging from three or four teamsfor a mini two round tournament, to as many as 8 teams for a three roundtournament, as many as 16 teams for a four round tournament, to as manyas 32 teams for five round tournament, or more if desired. The selectedplayoff teams are then scheduled to play games in a first round of theelimination tournament, unless the team is given a bye in the firstround. For all teams playing in a first round playoff game, the playoffgame is played in lieu of one of its regularly scheduled games thatremain to be played. The previously scheduled game is automaticallycancelled. For teams not selected to the playoffs that were scheduled toplay in a game that was automatically canceled, a substitute game isscheduled against a substitute opponent, most likely chosen from theteams that were previously scheduled to play a different team that wasselected to play in a playoff game. Teams eliminated from the tournamentplay the next scheduled game on its regular season schedule unless thescheduled game is against a team that remains in the playoffs. For NCAADivision 1A football, it is preferred that first round playoff games beplayed on the same weekend, as well as the substitute games forpreviously scheduled non-playoff opponents. The same is true of secondor third round games if it is desired to play additional rounds ofplayoff games in lieu of regular season games.

Using the invention, the number of surviving playoff teams can bereduced to a manageable number by the same date or near the same date asthe regular season wound normally end. For NCAA Division 1A football, itmay desirable to have no additional games between the regular season andthe bowl games. In this case, the number of playoff teams and number ofplayoff rounds played as rescheduled games during the regular season areselected so that only two teams remain for a championship game after theregular season ends. For example, if 8 teams are selected for theplayoffs, playing two playoff rounds during the regular season leavestwo teams for a title game at the end of the regular season. Or, up to16 teams can be selected for the playoffs with three rounds being playedduring the regular season.

For NCAA Division 1A football, it is believed that a plus-one or aplus-two format (in which one or two additional playoff rounds areplayed between the end of the regular season and the final bowl games)may be more desirable. With the plus-one format, four (4) playoff teamswould remain after the regular season leaving two (2) semi-final gamesand the national title game to be played in post-season playoffs. Mostlikely, the semi-final games will be played before the college bowls,with the title game being one of the major bowl games. With the plus-oneformat, up to 16 teams can be chosen for the playoffs while requiringonly two rounds of rescheduling during the regular season.

In the plus-two format, eight (8) playoff teams would remain after theregular season leaving four (4) quarter final games, two (2) semi-finalgames and the national championship game to be played post season. Inthis format, the semi-final games could be played in bowl games, perhapsmajor bowl games, with the national title game to follow; however, itmay be more desirable to play the semi-final games prior to the collegebowl week, with the national title game being played-in one of the majorbowl games. With the plus-two format, up to 32 teams can be selected tothe playoffs with only two rounds of rescheduling during the regularseason being required.

While the venue of playoff games is a matter of choice, it iscontemplated that the national title game will be played in a major bowlgame, and that any plus-one and plus-two games be played at a neutralvenue, preferably on a regional basis. While playoff games played duringthe regular season can also be played at a neutral venue, it may bedesirable to give home field advantage to the higher seeded team.

As an alternative to automatically canceling games for the teamsparticipating in the playoffs and rescheduling substitute non-playoffgames for the opponents, the invention can be implemented by providing ashortened regular season schedule for the teams in the pool. In thisembodiment, the length of the shortened schedule depends on the numberof playoffs rounds that are intended to be played during the regularseason. Using NCAA Division 1A football as an example, the shortenedschedule might have 9 or 10 games if two rounds of playoffs are playedduring the regular season. The playoff teams are selected based on theresults of the shortened schedule, and scheduled to play playoff games.The other teams, as well as the teams eliminated from the playoffs, arescheduled to play non-playoff games during the final weeks of theregular season.

As should be apparent from the above explanation, the invention enablesan elimination playoff for NCAA Division 1A football without increasingthe number of games, or without increasing the number of games more thanis desirable. In addition, it should not disrupt the current collegebowl system. The bowls will still be free to extend invitations based onregular season results.

The invention can be used initially on a small scale, say selecting upto eight playoff teams, in order to test the acceptance of such aplayoff. On the other hand, the playoff system can be expanded as isreasonably necessary to provide fair and adequate access to the playoffsfor all teams in the pool. In any event, it would be desirable totelevise all tournament elimination games, including the championshipgame.

Various other objects, features and advantages of the invention will bemade apparent from the following description taken together with thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of an eight-team elimination championshipplayoff tournament implementing rescheduled regular season games asplayoff games in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing illustrating representative team schedulesof regular season and post-season playoff games wherein games in thefirst and second round of the playoff are played in lieu of tentativelyscheduled regular season games;

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing illustrating representative team schedulesof regular season and post-season playoff games wherein games in thefirst round of the playoff are played in lieu of a tentatively scheduledregular season game, and an additional playoff game may be played inaccordance with a plus-one format;

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of a 9-team to 16-team eliminationchampionship playoff tournament implementing rescheduled regular seasongames as playoff games in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing of a 17-team to 32-team eliminationchampionship playoff tournament implementing rescheduled regular seasongames as playoff games in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing illustrating a representative teamschedule of regular season and post-season playoff games wherein gamesin the first three rounds of the playoff are played in lieu oftentatively scheduled regular season games, and a semi-final game is anadditional game in accordance with the plus-one format; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing illustrating a representative teamschedule of regular season and post-season playoff games wherein gamesin the first two rounds of the playoff are played in lieu of tentativelyscheduled regular season games, and the quarter-final and semi-finalgames are additional games in accordance with the plus-two format.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

As mentioned, the invention can be implemented with as few as three (3)or four (4) playoff teams, or with as many as 8, 16, or 32 teams or moredepending on the number of playoff rounds that tournament coordinatorsdecide to play. The Figures show the expected most likelyimplementations of the preferred embodiment of the invention in which atleast one regular season game scheduled to be played after the playoffselection date is designated as tentative. As discussed in more detailbelow, tentative games are automatically canceled if one of thescheduled teams is participating in that round of the playoffs, withplayoff games or substitute non-playoff games being scheduled and playedin lieu of the canceled game.

FIG. 1 illustrates different scenarios for implementing the inventionwith eight (8) teams (or less if the top seeded teams receive a bye inthe first round). Referring to FIG. 1, an 8-team bracket 10 showsmatch-ups for a three-round single elimination tournament. The eightteams are preferably selected and seeded by a selection committee, or aranking system. In round 1, the first seeded team plays the eighthseeded team in playoff game 1. The fourth seeded team plays the fifthseeded team in playoff game 2. Likewise, the second seeded team playsthe seventh seeded team in playoff game 3, and the third seeded teamplays the sixth seeded team in playoff game 4. In the semi-final round,the winner of playoff game 1 plays the winner of playoff game 2 inplayoff game 5, and the winner of playoff game 3 plays the winner ofplayoff game 4 in playoff game 6. The winner of playoff game 5 and thewinner of playoff game 6 play in the championship title game (playoffgame 7). The bracket 10 is filled out in FIG. 1 assuming that thehighest seeded team wins each game.

Three different scenarios of implementing the invention are illustratedin the lower portion of FIG. 1. In scenario 1, games 12 in the first tworounds of the playoffs are played by the playoff teams in lieu ofregular season games. The championship title game 13 is preferablyplayed as the final game of the season. For NCAA Division 1A football,the final game 13 would likely be played as one of the major bowl gameson a rotating basis as depicted in FIG. 1. In scenario 1, up to six (6)substitute non-playoff games have to be rescheduled during the regularseason, and no additional games played are played between the end of theregular season and the bowl games. For the first two rounds, six (6)substitute non-playoff games will have to be rescheduled unless teamsparticipating in a particular round of the playoffs were scheduled toplay each other on the original schedule.

FIG. 2 shows representative schedules for two college football teams inthe NCAA Division 1A pool under scenario 1. In schedule 18, Team A hasnine (9) regular season games 19 scheduled to play before the playoffselection date 20, and two (2) regular season games scheduled to playafter the playoff selection date 20. The two games scheduled to playafter the playoff selection date 20 are tentative. Preferably, each teamdesignates one of its tentatively scheduled games 21 for the first roundof the playoffs and one game 23 for the second round. Both teamsscheduled to play in a tentative game should designate the game astentative for the same round in the playoffs. A tentatively scheduledgame will not be played if Team A is participating in that round of theplayoffs or the game is against a team playing in that round of theplayoffs. As shown in FIG. 2, if Team A is participating in the firstround of the playoffs, the first tentatively scheduled game 21 isrescheduled as a playoff game 21A. If Team A participates in the secondround of the playoffs, the second tentatively scheduled game 23 isrescheduled as another playoff game 23A. If Team A is not selected, oris eliminated, from the playoffs and is tentatively scheduled to play ateam participating in that round of the playoffs, a substitute game 21B,23B against another opponent will be played instead. Preferably and mostlikely, the opponent for the substitute game 21B, 23B will also be ateam that was tentatively scheduled to play a team participating in thatround of the playoffs.

Referring still to FIG. 2, Team A may schedule a pre-season bonus game,see box 22. In this case, Team A would play at least 12 games, andpossibly 13 games if it won enough games to become bowl eligible andwere invited to a bowl game 24. It is believed that most teams willschedule all of their conference games prior to the playoff selectiondate 20, as is shown in schedule 18 for Team A. Assuming that games 10and 11 are designated as tentative for the first and second rounds ofthe playoffs as illustrated in FIG. 2, Team A will either play thetentatively scheduled opponent, or the game be automatically cancelled.If the game is automatically canceled, a playoff game or a substitutenon-playoff game will be played in lieu of the automatically cancelledgame. Thus, Team A will play exactly the same number of games that itwas originally scheduled to play.

FIG. 2 also shows a representative schedule 26 for Team B. Team B haselected to play only eight (8) games before the playoff selection date20. Team B has designated two (2) of its final three (3) regular seasongames, namely games 9 and 10, as tentative games for rounds one and twoof the playoffs, see reference numbers 25 and 27. Game 11 designated byreference number 29 is not tentative even though it is scheduled to beplayed after the playoff selection date 20. In order to promotescheduling discipline, each team should be required to play (or win) aminimum number of games prior to the playoff selection date 20 to beeligible for the playoffs, e.g. seven or eight games for NCAA Division1A football. The playoff selection date 20 should be communicated withschedulers in plenty of time so that teams wishing to be eligible forplayoff selection are able to schedule enough games before the playoffselection date 20.

Referring again to the 8-team playoff scenario 1 shown in FIG. 1, it ispossible to give the higher seeded teams a bye in the first or secondround. For example, a six-team playoff tournament can be implemented bygiving the top seed and the second seed a bye in the first round. Afour-team playoff can be provided by eliminating the first roundaltogether. In this case, each team needs to designate only one game astentative (similar to FIG. 3 but without the plus-one game 31). Athree-team playoff can be implemented by giving the top seed a bye inthe second round as well. Lowering the number of playoff teams reducesthe number of games that need to be automatically cancelled andrescheduled, but it also reduces the number of teams having access tothe national title game.

Scenario 2 and scenario 3 in FIG. 1 illustrate the use of a plus-oneformat in a three round tournament. In scenarios 2 and 3, games 14 inthe first round of the playoffs are played by the playoff teams in lieuof a regular season games but no others. In scenario 2, the plus-onegames 15A are played as additional semi-final games between the end ofthe regular season and before the bowl games. The title game 16A isplayed in a major bowl game. In scenario 3, the semi-final games 16B areplayed in major bowl games, and the plus-one game 15B is the nationalchampionship title game. In these scenarios, no more than four (4)substitute non-playoff games have to be rescheduled.

FIG. 3 shows representative schedules for two college football teams inthe NCAA Division 1A pool under scenario 2 in FIG. 1. In schedule 28,Team C has ten (10) regular season games scheduled to play before theplayoff selection date 30, and one (1) regular season game istentatively scheduled to play after the playoff selection date 30. Asdescribed above, if Team C or its tentative opponent in game 11, box 29,participates in the first round of the playoffs, the tentative game 29is automatically cancelled and Team C will either play in a playoff game29A or a substitute non-playoff game 29B. If Team C is selected for theplayoffs and wins its first round game, it will play in a plus-onesemi-final game 31. If it wins the semi-final game 31, it will play inthe national championship title game, probably a major bowl game 24designated to be the title game. If Team C looses the semi-final game31, it will nevertheless likely be bowl eligible and will probably beinvited to a bowl game 24. Under this scenario 2, Team C will play 11games during the regular season, a twelfth game if it is invited to abowl game 24, and possibly a thirteenth game if it plays in one of theplus-one national semi-final games 31. This format has the advantage ofhaving only one game designated as tentative. Schedule 32 in FIG. 3 forTeam D is similar to schedule 28 for Team C; however, only 9 games areplayed before the playoff selection date 30, and only one game 33 of thetwo games after the playoff selection date 30 is designated astentative.

An individual team's schedule for scenario 3 in FIG. 1 would likely besimilar to schedules 28 or 32 in FIG. 3, except a single plus-one game31 would be played as the final title game after the bowl games 24.

FIG. 4 illustrates different scenarios for implementing the inventionwith nine (9) to sixteen (16) playoff teams. Referring to FIG. 4, a16-team bracket 34 shows match-ups for a four-round single eliminationtournament. The maximum number of teams for a four-round tournament is16 teams; however, less teams can be accommodated by giving a bye in thefirst and/or second round to the highest seeded teams. Three differentscenarios of implementing the invention in a four-round tournament areillustrated in the bottom of FIG. 4. In scenario A, the first threerounds 36 of the playoff tournament are played as rescheduled regularseason games, and the title game 38 is played in a bowl game. Scenario Adoes not require any additional games to be played by any team; however,for a 16-team tournament, up to fourteen substitute non-playoff gamesneed to be scheduled. Also, each team wishing to be considered for theplayoffs would have to designate three late season games as tentative.With this exception, an individual team's schedule would likely looksimilar to those shown in FIG. 2.

Scenario B in FIG. 4 illustrates the use of a plus-one format in afour-round tournament. In scenario B, the first two rounds 40 are playedas rescheduled regular season games, the semi-final games 41 are playedas plus-one games, and the title game 42 is played in a bowl game. For a16-team tournament, scenario B requires that up to twelve substitutenon-playoff games be scheduled. Nevertheless, it has the benefit thateach team only needs to designate two late season games as tentative. Anindividual team's schedule under scenario B would likely be similar tothat shown in FIG. 3, except each team would have to designate at leasttwo games played after the playoff selection date 30 as tentative.

Scenario C in FIG. 4 illustrates the use of a plus-two format in afour-round tournament. In scenario C, the first round 43 is played asrescheduled regular season games, the quarter-final games 44 are playedas plus-one games, the semi-final games 45 are played as plus-two games,and the title game 46 is played in a bowl game. An individual team'sschedule under scenario C would be similar to that shown in FIG. 3,except an additional plus-two game would be played if a team advanced tothe semi-finals. Alternatively, it would be similar to the scheduleshown in FIG. 7, except only one regular season game after the playoffselection date would necessarily be designated as tentative.

FIG. 5 illustrates different scenarios for implementing the inventionwith seventeen (17) to thirty two (32) playoff teams. Referring to FIG.5, a 32-team bracket 48 shows match-ups for a five-round singleelimination tournament. The maximum number of teams for a five roundtournament is 32 teams; however, as mentioned above, fewer teams can beaccommodated by giving one or more byes to the highest seeded teams. Twodifferent scenarios of implementing the invention in a five-roundtournament are illustrated at the bottom of FIG. 5. In scenario Z, thefirst three rounds 50 of the playoff tournament are played asrescheduled regular season games, the semi-final games 52 are played asplus-one games, and the title game 54 is played in a bowl game. If theplus-one format is acceptable, FIG. 5 shows that up to 32 teams can beaccommodated in a playoff, requiring each team to designate only 3 lateseason games as tentative. Under scenario Z, up to twenty eight (28)substitute non-playoff games need to be scheduled and played. FIG. 6shows a likely schedule 56 for Team E under scenario Z in FIG. 5. InFIG. 6, Team E plays 8 regular season games 57, and possibly a bonuspre-season game 58, before the playoff selection date 60. After theplayoff selection date 60, Team E has three tentatively scheduledregular season games 61, 62, 63. If Team E participates in any of thefirst three rounds of the playoffs, the corresponding tentativelyscheduled regular season game is automatically cancelled with itsopponent playing in a substitute game unless it is participating in thatround of the playoffs as well. If Team E advances to the semi-finalround, it will play in a plus-one game 64. Even if it loses thesemi-final game 64, its final game will likely be a bowl game 66(assuming it is bowl eligible and invited).

Referring again to FIG. 5, in scenario Y, the first two rounds 68 of theplayoff tournament are played as rescheduled regular season games, thequarter-final games 70 are played as plus-one games, the semi-finalgames 72 are played as plus-two games, and the title game 74 is playedin a bowl game. If the plus-two format is acceptable, FIG. 5 shows thatup to 32 teams can be accommodated in a playoff, requiring each team todesignate only 2 late season games as tentative. Under scenario Y, up totwenty four (24) substitute non-playoff games need to be scheduled andplayed. FIG. 7 shows a likely schedule 76 for Team F under scenario Y inFIG. 5. In FIG. 7, Team F plays nine (9) regular season games 78, andpossibly a bonus pre-season game 80, before the playoff selection date82. After the playoff selection date 82, Team F has two tentativelyscheduled regular season games 84, 86. If Team F participates in any ofthe first two rounds of the playoffs, the corresponding tentativelyscheduled regular season game is automatically cancelled, as discussedearlier, and its opponent is scheduled to play in a substitute gameunless it is participating in that round of the playoffs as well. IfTeam F advances to the quarter final round, it will play in a plus-onegame 88. If Team F advances to the semi-final round, it will play in aplus-two game 90. Even if Team F loses in the quarter final 88 orsemi-final round 90, its final game will likely be a bowl game 92 (againassuming it is bowl eligible and invited).

As should be apparent from the above description, the invention can beimplemented in a number of different forms. The invention requires onlythat one round (or a partial round) of the playoffs be played in lieu ofregular season games. Later rounds can be played as additional games asin the above mentioned plus-one or plus-two formats.

Further, the invention can be implemented by simply waiting to scheduleall or most late season games among all of the teams in the pool untilthe playoff teams are selected on the playoff selection date. Morespecifically in this regard, the invention can be implemented byproviding a shortened regular season schedule for each team. Theshortened regular season schedule would have n games less than the teamwill play during the full regular season. For example, the shortenedregular season schedule might include 9 games, with the complete regularseason schedule having 11 games. In this embodiment, the playoff teamsare selected, and preferably seeded, based on the results of theshortened regular season schedule. The playoff games are then playedround by round in an elimination playoff. In accordance with theinvention, teams in the pool that are not selected for the playofftournament, or eliminated from the tournament, are scheduled to playgames among one another for the remaining games in the full regularseason. Teams not selected for the tournament will have n additionalgames scheduled to fill out the regular season. Teams eliminated fromthe tournament will have n-p additional games scheduled to fill out theregular season, where p is the number of tournament games in which theeliminated team participated. As with the embodiments of the inventionin which tentative games are automatically canceled, it may be desirablethat the title game be a bowl game, or that a plus-one format or aplus-two format be used.

In its broadest aspect, the invention does not require that any games beplayed in predetermined venues. Nevertheless, providing home fieldadvantage to the higher seeds for teams playing playoff games during theregular season may be most desirable, while any plus-one or plus-twogames should probably be played a neutral venue. On the other hand, itmay be desirable to play all playoff games in neutral venues, perhaps ona regional basis, if appropriate facilities are available.

Referring to the scheduling method in general, the scope of itsutilization over time is flexible. For example, the number of selectedplayoff teams does not need to be the same year to year. The playoffformat can begin slowly with a small number of teams and can expand fromyear to year depending on the need to increase accessibility to theplayoffs. On the other hand, the number of teams can be restricted inany given year if desired, by offering byes to higher seeded teams or bylimiting the number of rounds of the tournament. In addition, it may bedesirable to select playoff teams such that at least one team representseach conference in the pool, or a select group of conferences in thepool.

One of the most interesting aspects of the invention is that it can beimplemented, perhaps on a small scale such as described with respect toFIG. 1, without disrupting the current college bowl system.

Finally, while the invention has been described in detail with respectto its applicability to NCAA Division 1A football, it may be applied toother sports leagues as well. In this regard, while a single eliminationtournament seems to be the most feasible for NCAA Division 1A football,the invention is not limited to the use a of single elimination playofftournament. In some circumstances, double-elimination or round-robintournaments may be more desirable.

While the invention has been described with reference to a preferredembodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate that certainsubstitutions, alterations and omissions may be made without departingfrom the spirit thereof. Accordingly, the foregoing description is meantto be exemplary only and should not be deemed limitative on the scope ofthe invention set forth with the following claims.

1. A method of determining a champion from a large pool of sports teams,the method comprising the steps of: providing a regular season schedulefor each team in the pool; selecting a number of playoff teams for anelimination championship tournament; having all of the teams in the poolplay the games scheduled for the regular season at least until theplayoff teams are selected for the elimination championship tournament;scheduling playoff teams to play in tournament elimination games, theelimination games in at least one round of the elimination tournamentbeing played by the respective playoff teams in lieu of one of its gamesyet to be played during its regular season schedule, said regular seasongames being automatically canceled; in the case where a playoff team isscheduled to play a game in a given round of the elimination tournamentand its scheduled opponent for an automatically cancelled game is notparticipating in a playoff game for that particular round of theelimination tournament, the opponent shall be rescheduled to play areplacement game with another team in lieu of the automatically canceledgame; and playing the elimination tournament among the selected playoffteams to determine a champion.
 2. A method as recited in claim 1wherein: the elimination championship tournament is a single eliminationtournament.
 3. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the games playedduring at least two rounds of the elimination championship tournamentare played in lieu of games yet to be played during the regular seasonfor the respective playoff teams.
 4. A method as recited in claim 3wherein there are 16 selected playoff teams each playing in a firstround of the elimination tournament, and the 8 winners of the firstround games play games in a second round of the elimination tournament,thereby leaving 4 teams in the single elimination tournament.
 5. Amethod as recited in claim 1 wherein games played in the semi-final andfinal rounds of the tournament are scheduled as additional post-seasongames played for the participating teams without automatically cancelinga game scheduled to be played in the regular season. 1
 6. A method asrecited in claim 5 wherein the sport is college football, and the finalround championship game is played as a major bowl game.
 7. A method asrecited in claim 5 wherein the sport is college football, and thesemi-final rounds games are played as bowl games.
 8. A method as recitedin claim 7 wherein said bowl games are major bowl games.
 9. A method asrecited in claim 3 wherein: at least one team receives a bye in a firstround of the elimination tournament, and the remaining selected playoffteams play in the first round of the elimination tournament.
 10. Amethod as recited in claim 1 wherein there are 8 selected playoff teams,each playing in the first round of the elimination tournament, and the 4winners of the first round games play games in the second round, therebyleaving 2 teams in the single elimination tournament after the first andsecond round.
 11. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the first roundof playoff games is played in lieu of games yet to be played during theregular season for the participating playoff teams, and at least onelater round of playoff games is played as an additionally scheduledplayoff game for the participating teams.
 12. A method as recited inclaim 1 wherein the games played during at least three rounds of theelimination championship tournament are played in lieu of games yet tobe played during the regular season for the respective playoff teams.13. A method as recited in claim 12 wherein at least one team receives abye in at least one round of the tournament.
 14. A method as recited inclaim 1 wherein at least some of the tournament games are played at thehome venue of the team with higher rank or seed.
 15. A method as recitedin claim 1 wherein at least some of the games are played at a neutralvenue.
 16. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the playoff teams andseeds are selected by a selection committee.
 17. A method as recited inclaim 1 wherein the playoff teams and seeds are determined by rankingsystem.
 18. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the selected playoffteams include at least one team representative from a group of selectedconferences.
 19. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the replacementgames are scheduled strictly to be played between the scheduledopponents of the respective playoff teams in the automatically cancelledgames.
 20. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein each selected playoffteam must have played a predetermined number of games prior to the dateon which the playoff teams are selected.
 21. A method as recited inclaim 1 wherein the tournament elimination games are televised.
 22. Amethod of determining a champion from a large pool of sports teams, themethod comprising the steps of: providing a shortened regular seasonschedule for each team in the pool, the shortened regular seasonschedule having n games less than the team will play during the fullregular season; selecting a number of playoff teams for an eliminationchampionship tournament based on the results of the shortened regularseason schedule; scheduling playoff teams to play in tournamentelimination games; scheduling teams in the pool that are not selectedfor the playoff tournament or eliminated from the tournament to playgames among one another for the remaining games in the full regularseason, wherein teams not selected for the tournament will have nadditional games scheduled to fill out the regular season and teamseliminated from the tournament will have n-p additional games scheduledto fill out the regular season, where p is the number of tournamentgames in which the eliminated team participated; and playing theelimination tournament among the selected playoff teams to determine achampion.